I have a bad case of itchy feet. It’s been a while since I’ve spent so long stuck in Tokyo, so I know exactly what the haiku poet Basho is talking about here . . .
“The months and days are the travelers of eternity. The years that come and go are also voyagers. Those who float away their lives on ships or who grow old leading horses are forever journeying, and their homes are wherever their travels take them. Many of the men of old died on the road, and I too for years past have been stirred by the sight of a solitary cloud drifting with the wind to ceaseless thoughts of roaming.
Last year I spent wandering along the coast. In autumn I returned to my cottage on the river and swept away the cobwebs. Gradually the year drew to its close. When spring came and there was mist in the air, I thought of crossing the Barrier of Shirakawa into Oku. I seemed to be possessed by the spirits of wanderlust, and they all deprived me of my senses. The guardian spirits of the road beckoned, and I could not settle down to work.”
(From Matsuo Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North, Donald Keene translation)
Here are some photos from a couple of trips to Hiraizumi in Iwate prefecture last year. Hiraizumi was one of the northernmost stops on Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North. It was built in the 12th century as a buddhist heaven on earth, a physical embodiment of the Pure Land, or Nirvana.
This is the Konjikido, a small gold leaf buddhist repository holding the bones of the three Fujiwara’s who ruled Hiraizumi in the 12th century. Photos aren’t normally allowed, but I was on a press tour and the curators let us in after the tourists left. I’ve taken the picture from outside the concrete outer building.
This is a close up of the contents of the Konjikido.
The Konjikido is in Chusonji temple. We met the head priest of the temple during the tour. He was an excellent model. I guess he is used to having his photo taken. It was only a rushed photo but he looks completely composed.
Motsuji is another 12th century temple in Hiraizumi. This is the Pure Land garden – it is a physical representation of Nirvana.
This stone at Motsuji is inscribed with a Basho poem. “Summer grass – all that remains of warrior dreams”.
The man himself, Matsuo Basho. (A statue at Chusonji). He looks tired after his journey.
Matsuo Basho
There will be an exhibtion about Hiraizumi at the Setagaya Art Museum March 2009.
All the Hiraizumi photos.
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